But that was late yesterday, wedged into a pretty busy Tech Weekend for Five Women.
Among the funny skills a set designer needs - in theaters without the budget or staff of big regional or university stages - you need to be able to fake upholstery. On stage you can get away with crudities like staples or hot glue that would never do in a living room, but work still needs to be neat and must stand up to harder use than at home. So yesterday I wrestled with creating a smooth seat cushion on a rhomboid shaped window seat (padded with three separate pieces of foam)... where actresses sit, stand, and wriggle too much. I also re-covered the dressing table's chair (keeping fabric stripes very straight) and created two seat cushions for borrowed chairs. To protect their cane seats, the cushions have plywood under the padding, making upholstery a matter of stapling, not sewing. Much easier. To finish these blue moire satin cushions off, I stapled a blue-n-yellow rope trim round the edges and added a pair of blue ropes with tassels at the rear corners, as if to tie the cushions in place. Très élégant. Upholstery, drapery, wallpapering, painting... the set designer is Jack-of-all-decorating-trades.
